Italy is one of the first countries that took part in the project for the design and construction of the Square Kilometre Array, represented by the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF). Italy came into play in the project in 2000 during the International Astronomical Union meeting in Manchester (UK), when a memorandum of understanding was signed to establish the International Steering Committee of the Square Kilometre Array (ISSC). Since then, Italian involvement increased with other agreements signed in 2006, in 2010 and 2011. Italy has two seats on the board of directors.

INAF is a member of the SKA Dish Consortium (SKADC) and of the SKA Central Signal Processor (CSP) Consortium, led by Canada (NRC), and it is involved in the “Correlator and Central Beam Former”, “ Non-Imaging processor” and “Local Monitor and Control” tasks. The Italian National Institute of Astrophysics is a member of the SKA Telescope Manager Consortium (SKA-TMC). Last but not the least, Italy is member of the SKA Aperture Array Design Consortium (SKA-AADC).